How could they set the story at that period of time and there not be some behaviors not seeming cliched? Having lived through that period at the prescribed age, there were lots of hippy behaviors that were basically cliched even then. People in the east were aping the west coast behaviors in an attempt to “be hip”, that’s why so many geniune Aquarian folk tended to steer away from the Woodstock festival, leaving mostly those hippies whoe were actually recorded in the movie Woodstock, being the cliches you point out.
Lots and lots of folks saw themselves as what has become the cliche, and lots didn’t. This movie and Woodstock the movie pointed them out as much as Bittersweet Motel pointed them out at Phish shows because it is entertaining to watch people being unreal, surreal, and every stage of real in between. Otherwise, reality TV shows wouldn’t be a big a deal these days.
There’s a scene in this movie that to me, for anyone who understands the true spirit of being at a Phish concert, was tremendously poignant in the way it represented the spirit of humanity across the different cultural boundaries. The protagonist attempts to walk down to the concert from his home, a run down resort being used by the promoters, and encounters a state trooper on the road who was stationed there to “keep order”. What this trooper learned from the people that he met while he was there is something that only some of us have had the good fortune to learn, and I believe the movie captured this perfectly.
Don’t want to be a spoiler and get into this much more, but it struck home with me in spite of the dopey displays of “hippyness” that ran rampant at the time and in the movie. Woodstock was a freak show, a business venture, an outdoor concert, and a pain in the ass for the people who lived in the area.
There was definitely a myriad of impacts that occurred at the Woodstock Festival, and here’s a good source of information:
http://backup.woodstockpreservation.org/SignificanceStatement.htm
Dr. Abruzzi, who was later tagged as the “rock doc” because of his dedication to what was goin on up there, and who is mentioned on this page, was the head of our college clinic at SUNY New Paltz, and treated me a couple of times for the flu before gaining this notoriety. His work at the college gave him just the experience he needed to help the folks at White Lake, and he was welled suited for it because he really believed in helping people. He took some major hits after the festival and I believe had numerous lawsuits filed against him from irate parents and greed merchants who attempted to capitalize on what went on that weekend.
i only laugh because i know exactly what your talking about…
